228 HEXANDRIA. MONOGTNIA. 



336. PEPLIS. Z. (Water Purslane.) 



Ctt/to: campanulate; border IS-cleft, segments 

 alternately reflected. Petals 6, (or none,) in- 

 vserted upon the calix. Capsule superior, 2-cell- 

 ed, many-seeded, covered by the calix^ disse- 

 piment seminiferous. 



A creeping plant, with opposite leaves, peculiar to 

 marshes and the margins of ponds; flowers small, axil- 

 lary, solitary and opposite; petals fugacious, often wanang; 

 capsule membranaceous. I*, indica appears to be a spe- 

 cies oi' Amannia; and P. portula of Europe the only ge- 

 nuine species of this genus ought also to be compared 

 with .imannia, from which it is scarcely distinct. 



Species. 1. P. americana- Pursh, 1. p. 238. Probably 

 the plant which 1 have published in the Journal of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of,Philadelphia. Vol. !. Xo. 

 6. p, 117. t. 6. f. 1. under the name of Crypta minima, but 

 this being a matter of uncertainty, 1 have inserted tlie 

 genus for future examination. I must, however, here re- 

 mark, in addition to that publication, the affinity which 

 evidently exists between Crypta and the genus Elatir.e. 

 The seeds of JS. Alsinastrnmy as well as the disposition of 

 the capsule, are abviously similar, and the farmer equally 

 discrepant, apparently with the character of the Caryo- 

 PHYLLEJE; the essential differences of these 2 genera con- 

 sist in the number and disposition of the parts of %icti- 

 fication, and the absence or presence of styles; in Crypta 

 the petals and stamina are equal in number; in Elatine die 

 stamina are double the number of the petals, but the sta- 

 mina themselves appear similar, in this genus tiiere are 

 also 3 or 4 cloven styles sufficiently visible, in Crypta 2 or 

 3 minute and microscopic points in place of siv les and 

 stigmas. To these distinctions we may add the deficiency 

 of number in Crypta which would not, however, other- 

 wise have proved any thing essential. The diftlrence of 

 liabit between these 2 genera is also considerable. 



SSr. FLGERKEA. Willdenow. 



Calix 3-leaved. Corolla of 3 petals, shorter 

 tlian the calix. Style bifid. Pericarp none. 

 Seeds 2 or 3, ni^mbranaceously coated, superior. 



A somewhat succulent plant, growing in alluvial marshes, 

 but not aquatic. Annual, and decumbent; leaves alter- 

 nate, trifid and pinnatifid, marcescent; peduncles solitaiy, 



